Tag: washington

2019 Great Washington ShakeOut, Oct. 17th

Millions of people worldwide will practice how to Drop, Cover, and Hold On at 10:17 a.m. on October 17* during the annual Great ShakeOut Earthquake Drills!

Washingtonians can join them today by registering for the 2019 Great Washington ShakeOut. As of the first week of October, 1.24 million Washingtonians have registered to take part. Participating is a great way for your family or organization to be prepared to survive and recover quickly from big earthquakes– wherever you live, work, or travel. Learn tips on how to get 2 Weeks Ready and craft your own emergency kits here.

Start here to be included in the 2019 Washington ShakeOut!

Related:

Tri-City Herald: The Tri-Cities Is Earthquake Country

WA Leg. Passes Continuity of Gov’t Bill and Constitutional Amendment

From US News:

The Washington House has passed two measures aimed at protecting state and local governments in the event of natural disasters.

The Daily News reports the bills, both sponsored by 19th District Democratic Sen. Dean Takko, passed on Wednesday.

Senate Bill 5012 extends the Continuity of Government Act, originally intended for catastrophic attacks to natural catastrophes.

It requires that all local and state governments prepare for the continuity of government operations in the event of those catastrophic disasters.

The state constitution currently only allows for the Legislature to provide for the continuity of government in the case of an enemy attack, so the House also voted to pass Senate Joint Resolution 8200, which proposes an amendment to the State constitution. This amendment allows the Legislature to enact the measures in Senate Bill 5012.
The language of the constitutional amendment in SJR8200 principally changes Article II, section 42 by adding the words “a catastrophic incident” in addition to the current “enemy attack” as reasons for continuity of government operations and also changes the word “disaster” to “the emergency” later in the same paragraph. Those words/phrases are then defined in SB5012:
(1)(a)”Catastrophic incident” means any natural or human-caused incident, including terrorism and enemy attack, that results in extraordinary levels of mass casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions…
(8)(a) “Emergency or disaster” as used in all sections of this chapter except RCW 38.52.430((shall)) means an event or set of circumstances which: (i) Demands immediate action to preserve public health, protect life, protect public property, or to provide relief to any stricken community overtaken by such occurrences; or (ii) reaches such a dimension or degree of destructiveness as to warrant the governor ((declaring))proclaiming a state of emergency pursuant to RCW 43.06.010. (b) “Emergency” as used in RCW 38.52.430 means an incident that requires a normal police, coroner, fire, rescue, emergency medical services, or utility response as a result of a violation of one of the statutes enumerated in RCW 38.52.430

WA state: Anti-Gun Bills Pass Committe

From NRA-ILA:

During the January 24th executive session, the Washington state Senate Committee on Law & Justice voted to pass all of the gun control bills before them by a vote of 4-3.  They will now go to the Senate floor for further consideration.  Please contact your state Senator and urge them to OPPOSE these anti-gun bills.  Click the “Take Action” button and call 1-800-562-6000 to contact your state Senator.

The Proposed Substitute to Senate Bill 5062, sponsored by Senator Patty Kuderer (D-48), was filed at the request of Attorney General Bob Ferguson.  It would ban the possession of ammunition magazines with a capacity greater than 10, encompassing most standard capacity magazines commonly used by law-abiding citizens, such as with handguns popular for self-defense.  Those who own non-compliant magazines prior to the ban would only be allowed to possess them on their own property and in other limited instances such as at licensed shooting ranges and nationally sanctioned sport shooting events.  These magazines would have to be transported unloaded and locked separately from firearms and stored at home locked, making them unavailable for self-defense.

The Proposed Substitute to Senate Bill 5061, sponsored by Senator Manka Dhingra (D-45), was filed at the request of Attorney General Ferguson.  It would end the centuries old practice of manufacturing firearms for personal use, among other things.

Senate Bill 5174, sponsored by Senator Guy Palumbo (D-1), would increase the government red tape that law-abiding adults must go through in order to obtain a Concealed Pistol License by requiring a mandatory training course.

Senate Bill 5143, sponsored by Senator Dhingra, would require law-enforcement to seize firearms and ammunition when they are called to the scene of an alleged domestic violence incident and hold them for at least five business days.  This would result in property being confiscated without first going through due process and subjecting citizens to bureaucratic red tape to get their property returned.

Senate Bill 5027, sponsored by Senator David Frockt (D-46), would expand Washington’s existing Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO).  It would affirm that the ERPO can be issued against minors while also infringing upon the self-defense rights of law-abiding parents or others in the household without due process.

WA GOAL Post 2019-1

From the Washington Gun Owners’ Action League:

GOAL Post2019-1

Legislative Update from Olympia 11 January 2019

RALLY IN OLY FRIDAY 18 JANUARY

LEGISLATURE CONVENES MONDAY, 14 JANUARY (105 DAY SESSION)

DEMOCRATS IN COMPLETE CONTROL

BILL INFORMATION

NEW GUN BILLS PRE-FILED

LEGISLATIVE TUTORIAL

LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR

NEXT WEEK’S HEARING SCHEDULE

LEGISLATOR CONTACT INFORMATION

HOW TO TESTIFY AT A PUBLIC HEARING

PUBLIC HEARING VERSUS EXECUTIVE SESSION

(This will be a long GOAL Post as I have to describe the environment and
the processes involved for new readers. Future issues will be
shorter. Also keep in mind that GOAL Post focuses on gun law only, we do
not cover hunting issues. The Hunters Heritage Council does that well.I
normally post GP on Friday evenings to summarize that week’s activities
and provide a forecast for the next. I’ll be on the road for the next two
weeks, so some issues might be late – or early.)

First business first: a gun rights rally will be held on the Capitol
Campus next Friday, January 18th. The rally will be held on the north
steps of the Legislative Building and will begin at 9 a.m., ending at 12
noon. The rally is sponsored by the Gun Rights Coalition. (Yes, it’s a
Friday, and unlike the people bussed in to attend many liberal rallies,
gunnies have to work. Are your gun rights worth a day off?) After the
formal presentation, attendees are encouraged to familiarize themselves
with the campus layout (the Capitol, or “legislative” building where
floor sessions are conducted, as well as the John L. O’Brien House
Office Building, the John A. Cherberg Senate Office Building, and the
Irv Newhouse Senate Office Building. This is a great opportunity to
locate your two representatives’ and one senator’s office and introduce
yourself to their legislative aides. Hopefully over the coming session
they’ll become familiar with your name and maybe even your face!

The legislature convenes on Monday, January 14th , for its “long” (105
day) session. This is the start of the 66^th biennium, which will run
through next year (2020). The primary focus of the long session is
supposed to be preparation and passage of a two-year budget, but worry
not – they’ll find plenty of time for gun control. If their work is not
completed, they can be called back by the governor for any number of
30-day special sessions, as happened two years ago with THREE
back-to-back special sessions.

I’m not going to point fingers, as it’s not clear who to point fingers
at:overly enthusiastic liberal voters or discouraged
conservatives. Either way, the Democrats now have solid control of BOTH
the Senate and the House. We still have a few friendly Democrats in the
Senate and the House, but not enough to overcome the liberal majority.

The new Senate has 28 Democrats, 21 Republicans.The House will have 57
Democrats to 41 Republicans. This means not only will every committee
chair be Democrat (the committee chair controls which bills will receive
a hearing), but most committees will have a two-seat Democrat majority.

In the first session of the biennium, all new bills must be filed.You
may see familiar subjects brought back, but the bill numbers will be
new.Bills stay alive for the entire two-year biennium.

Text of newly filed bills can be found at
https://app.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/ Also on the bill information page are
links to “New Introductions” (daily), and at the bottom, “Bills by
topic” and “Bill Tracking.”

Pre-filing of bills for the new legislature begins in December, and
there are already a handful of gun-related bills in the hopper.

A complete list of bills under consideration is included below in the
“BILL STATUS” section.It also contains the bill’s prime sponsor, the
current status of the bill (committee location) and the GOAL position on
the bill. Committee abbreviations are provided at the bottom of that
section. As this is written there are currently 12 gun bills available
for consideration/action.

For those new to legislative affairs, here’s how the process works: When
a bill is filed in the House or Senate (or both, simultaneously, called
“companion bills”) it is assigned to a policy committee.Most gun-related
bills go to the Senate Law & Justice Committee in the Senate. In the
House it’s a little more complicated, as it may be sent to House Civil
Rights & Judiciary or House Public Safety (most will go to CR&J). Public
hearings may be held, after which the bill may (or may not) be voted out
of committee. If the bill has a fiscal impact (usually an expenditure of
more than $50,000), it must then go to Senate Ways & Means or one of a
couple of House fiscal committees. The bill then goes to the Senate or
House Rules Committee, where it must be voted on to pass out to the
floor for a full vote.

After a bill passes the Senate or House, it then goes over to the
opposite chamber (House or Senate), where the whole process starts over
again. If the bill passes the second chamber in the same form it passed
the first, it goes to the governor for signature (or veto or partial
veto). If changes are made in the second chamber, it goes back to the
first for concurrence. It may also go to a conference committee from both
chambers to resolve differences.The final version must pass both chambers.

The bill then goes to the Governor, who may sign it into law, veto
(kill) the bill, or sign a partial veto (killing just selected
section(s) of the bill). The governor may also allow a bill to become law
without his signature. Most signed bills take effect on 1 July, although
bills with an “emergency clause” (considered immediately necessary for
public safety) take effect upon signature by the governor.

One of the first items of business in each session is the adoption of
the session calendar, identifying dates by which bills must clear
various hurdles. A bill that fails to clear the policy committee or
chamber floor by the designated date is generally considered dead for
the year, although they may be “resurrected” by parliamentary
procedure. I’ll post the cut-off dates for the 2018 session in the next
issue of GOAL Post.

At this time, public hearings are scheduled for HB 1010 (disposal of
forfeited firearm) on Tuesday, January 15th , at 10 a.m. in the House
Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee, and for SBs 5072 (extreme risk
protection orders, under 18) and 5027 (extreme risk protection orders,
under 18) on Thursday, 17 January at 10 a.m. in the Senate Law & Justice
Committee.

The following links can be used to contact legislators .Lists won’t be
updated until new members are sworn in Monday):

http://www.leg.wa.gov/Senate/Senators/

http://www.leg.wa.gov/House/Representatives/

Legislative e-mail addresses are available at
http://app.leg.wa.gov/MemberEmail/Default.aspx

The link contains a quick tutorial on providing testimony at public
hearings on bills under consideration. I would urge you to read it and
consider visiting Olympia to let YOUR voice be
heard.http://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/Testify.aspx

Public hearings are committee meetings open to the public, where the
public is allowed to testify on bills, to give their views on the
bill. But all votes on bills taken by a committee are conducted in what
are called “executive sessions.” They are typically part of a public
session, with a few minutes set aside to vote on bills previously heard
by the committee. Public testimony is just that, open to the public for
comment.On the other hand, no public input is allowed during executive
session. You are welcome to sit there, and to count votes, but silence
from the public is the rule.Just FYI for those of you who have not
attended legislative public meetings before.

And you won’t find the House Judiciary Committee listed any more. It’s
now the House Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee.

The Senate Committee Services office has done us the favor of compiling
a 26 page summary of Washington state firearms laws and other data
surrounding firearms… with – at first glance – a typical Olympia slant
on it.The “study” us available at
http://leg.wa.gov/Senate/Committees/LAW/Documents/Washington%20Firearms%20Laws.pdf

BILL STATUS/GOAL POSITION:

HB 1010 Disposition of forfeited firearms by WSP Senn (D-41 )H.CR&J OPPOSE

HB 1022 Prohibiting handgun sale data base Walsh (R-19) H.CR&JSUPPORT

HB 1024 Prohibiting gun owner data base Walsh (R-19) H.CR&J SUPPORT

HB 1068 High capacity magazine ban Valdez (D-46 )H.CR&J OPPOSE

HB 1038 Authorizing armed school personnel Walsh (R-19) UnAsg SUPPORT

HB 1073 Undetectable and/or untraceable firearms Valdez (D-46) H.CR&J OPPOSE

SB 5016 Authorizing armed animal control officers Van De Wege UnAsg SUPPORT

SB 5027 Extreme risk protection orders, under age 18 Frockt (D-46) S.L&J OPPOSE

SB 5050 Sentence enhancement for body armor use in a
crime O’Ban (R-28) S.L&J NEUTRAL

SB 5061 Undetectable and untraceable firearms Dhingra (D-45) S.L&J OPPOSE

SB 5062 High capacity magazine ban Kuderer (D-48) S.L&J OPPOSE

SB 5072 Extreme risk protection orders O’Ban (R-28) S.L&J NEUTRAL

HB = House bill, SB = Senate bill. L&J = Law & Justice, CR&J = Civil
Rights and Judiciary, PubSaf = Public Safety, HC = Health Care, H. K-12
= House Early education, Aprop = Appropriations, Fin = Finance, W&M =
Ways & Means“S” before a bill number indicates Substitute (amended).

HEARINGS SCHEDULED:

15 Jan House Civil Rights and Jud Committee, John L. O’Brien Building

10:00 HB 1010

17 Jan Senate Law & Justice Committee, John A. Cherberg Bldg

10:00 SBs 5027 and 5072

LEGISLATIVE HOT LINE: You may reach your Representatives and Senator by
calling the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000. Toll free!!! The
hearing impaired may obtain TDD access at 1-800-635-9993. Also toll free!!!

1-800-562-6000TDD 1-800-635-9993

OTHER DATA:Copies of pending legislation (bills), legislative schedules
and other information are available on the legislature’s web site at
“www.leg.wa.gov“. Bills are available in Acrobat (.pdf) format. You may
download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader from Adobe’s web site
(http://www.adobe.com). You may also obtain hard copy bills, initiatives,
etc, in the mail from the Legislative Bill Room FREE OF CHARGE by
calling 1-360-786-7573. Copies of bills may also be ordered toll free by
calling the Legislative Hotline at (800) 562-6000. You may also hear
floor and committee hearing action live at http://www.tvw.org/ (you need
“RealAudio” to do this, available free at the TVW web site).

By reading the House and Senate “bill reports” (hbr, sbr) for each bill,
you can see how individual committee members voted. By reading the “roll
call” for each bill, you can see how the entire House or Senate voted on
any bill. The beauty of the web site is that ALL this information is
available, on line 24/7 , to any citizen.

GET THE WORD OUT:If you want to subscribe to the GOAL Post by e-mail,
send a message to “goalwa@cox.net “.Please pass GOAL Post on to anyone
you believe may have an interest in protecting our rights.Better yet,
make a couple of copies of this message, post it on your gun club’s
bulletin board, and leave copies with your local gun shop(s).PERMISSION
IS HEREBY GRANTED TO DUPLICATE OR REDISTRIBUTE GOAL POST PROVIDED IT IS
REPRODUCED WITHOUT TEXTUAL MODIFICATION AND CREDIT IS GIVEN TO GOAL

“The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men.”

Article 1, Section 24

Constitution of the State of Washington

ZeroHedge: Increased Traffic Accidents in States with Legal Marijuana

Washington is among other states with legalized marijuana which are showing a six percent increase in traffic accidents, according to an article at ZeroHedge citing a recent study.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) found, in a new study published Thursday, that traffic accidents are up 6% in four states where recreational use of marijuana has been legalized…The IIHS study notes that after retail sales of recreational cannabis began, the frequency of collision insurance claims in Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington rose about 6%, however, this trend was not observed in surrounding states where marijuana is illegal.

Anti-gun WA Initiative 1639 Information

Initiative 1639 will be on the ballot this fall (2018) unless it is stopped by lawsuit. Titled “AN ACT Relating to increasing public safety by implementing firearm safety measures, including requiring enhanced background checks, waiting periods, and increased age requirements for semiautomatic assault rifles and secure gun storage for all firearms,” this billionaire-funded initiative is much more dangerous than that language implies. The initiative is facing lawsuits over reported illegal petitions.

Washington Arms Collectors published the following facts about I-1639.

Initiative 1639 – An Attack on Every Firearm Owner

Initiative 1639 has been filed with the Washington Secretary of State:
“AN ACT Relating to increasing public safety by implementing firearm safety measures, including requiring enhanced background checks, waiting periods, and increased age requirements for semiautomatic assault rifles and secure gun storage for all firearms.” We should all be informed of the contents so please go to the official copy online and read it, download it and print it out to share with others. Here is the web address:
https://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/initiatives/finaltext_1531.pdf
This initiative is now in the signature gathering phase and if enough signatures are collected it will go directly to the voters, not to the legislature. If passed I-1639 will become law on July 1, 2019.
Every Semiautomatic Rifle is an Assault Rifle
Let me start with the initiative language that will do the most harm, the definition of an assault rifle.
I-1639 creates the following definition:
“Semiautomatic assault rifle” means any rifle which utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and chamber the next round, and which requires a separate pull of the trigger to fire each cartridge.”
The age of your rifle, collectability, ATF definition of the firearm as a Curio or Relic, caliber, rimfire or centerfire, tube or box magazine—none of this makes any difference, ALL semiautos are defined as assault rifles. Your kid’s .22 LR plinker is an assault rifle. Your Garand collection is a collection of assault rifles. Turn of the 19th to 20th century semiautos are assault rifles.
You say that you hate those black plastic stocked AR-style rifles and wouldn’t have an “assault rifle” in the house? Too bad, the anti-gun community has outflanked you this time by including all of your wood stocked semiauto hunting rifles, all 22 semiautos and just about every rifle created from 1900 to now. Oh, antiques and inoperable firearms are generously exempted. So it’s not just Modern Sporting Rifles that have been included but all semiautomatic rifles.
Registration of Rifles
How will this affect collector transfers, private transfers and all FFL dealer sales? Semiauto rifle transfers will be handled like pistols are now with additional forms, State registration and waiting periods.
The Department of Licensing is authorized to keep, “copies or records of applications to purchase pistols or semiautomatic assault rifles.”
Firearm Storage is Criminalized
We all secure our firearms the best we can. Some can afford safes and others lock them up or use locking devices. I-1639 defines safe storage as follows: “Secure gun storage” means: (a) A locked box, gun safe, or other secure locked storage space that is designed to prevent unauthorized use or discharge of a firearm.” Oddly this definition excludes gun locks! Yet the initiative itself requires gun locks be provided with every sale. It appears that if one secures a firearm using a locking device it is by definition not in “secure gun storage.” Read the definition again—a secure storage SPACE seems to be required. And if you fail to have such a space and someone uses your firearm to do harm, you are the criminal.
A new crime of “community endangerment” is created that will allow you to be charged and jailed if your firearm is taken and misused. Yes, if you have secured your firearms you may not be charged and in this section gun locks are mentioned along with secure storage. We all strongly support safe firearm storage but changing the law to shift the blame for a crime onto the victim of a crime is wrong. The message to the public and the legal system is that your formerly law-abiding gun ownership is a threat to the community.
Annual Verification of Eligibility
I-1639 will institute a system that annually reviews your record to determine your eligibility to own firearms. You should expect that medical records, mental health issues, and social security disability will all be reviewed to determine whether you can possess that old semiauto hunting rifle. And you thought we were trying to scare you with visions of the police at your door to confiscate your firearms.
Out of State Purchasers
Residents of other states have been able to purchase rifles and shotguns here in Washington. 1639 will end this reasonable practice for semiauto rifles. Our WAC members in Idaho and Oregon will be unable to come to our shows and collect these firearms.
No Longer an Adult at Age 18
At age 18, you can vote, you can be charged with a crime as an adult, be imprisoned or drafted and do other adult things but you can’t take your 22 rifle into the woods to plink and you can’t go hunting with a license and a semiauto. I-1639 judges you to be too immature to do these adult activities. Thinking about taking your semi to the range for practice or a DCM shoot Forget it—that would be illegal.
What can a 18 year old do with a semiautomatic rifle? Stay at home on your own property. That’s it. The initiative states that a person, “ eighteen years of age, but less than twenty-one years of age, may possess a semiautomatic assault rifle only: (a) In the person’s place of abode; (b) At the person’s fixed place of business; (c) On real property under his or her control.”
Seriously…if this becomes law you can’t take your children to the range to have some shooting fun with the 10-22.
Government Safety Training Required
This initiative has costs that will be borne by firearm purchasers and owners. A new regimen of “safety” training to be delivered by government agencies is defined. Will it be free? Of course not and the price is not stated or limited. Firearm accidents are near zero in Washington. Death by firearm is either a criminal act or a suicide—neither is preventable through any kind of safety training. Hunter Safety classes teach safety and public and private firing ranges all provide safety training. This requirement is a bogus attempt to incorporate public safety into 1639 and increase the costs and create obstacles to firearm ownership.
Trigger Locks required
And you thought that trigger locks were already required? Well yes they are—by Federal law every firearm sold must have with a locking device. This section appears to exist only so that the initiative can masquerade as a safety measure. Nothing changes.
Rifles are Taxed
Sure they call it a fee but this is a tax on semiauto rifles. A fee of $25 is to be assessed by dealers for the Department of Licensing to use in their registration of firearms.
Multiple Initiative Subjects
Washington law requires that an initiative deal only with a single subject. In I-1639 we have changes to the age of firearm ownership, fees which are really taxes, storage requirements, changes to the definition of rifles and more. Most of the law changes would be in RCW 9.41. Still, there are obviously multiple separate and significant issues,not a single subject. This initiative is also falsely titled as dealing with “assault rifles.” These are flaws that may allow challenges but will not necessarily prevent a ballot vote. Don’t count on our courts to protect your rights–begin the fight now.
This article from the GunNews magazine, Washington Arms Collectors, may be reprinted and distributed by all those acting in opposition to I1639.
See also https://saveoursecurity.net/ for more information about I-1639.
UPDATE: As of November 6th, 2018 it appears that Initiative 1639 has been voted into law. The age restrictions go into effect January 1, 2019 and the rest on July 1, 2019.
UPDATE 2: The SAF and NRA File Lawsuit Challenging I-1639. Click here for article.

The lawsuit challenges the measure on the grounds that it violates the commerce clause by banning sales of rifles to non-residents, and that it unconstitutionally impairs the rights guaranteed by the First, Second and Fourteenth Amendments, and Article I Section 24 of the Washington State constitution by preventing the sale to otherwise qualified adults under age 21 of certain rifles.

“We are also considering additional legal challenges,” SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb confirmed. “We are disappointed that too many Evergreen State voters were fooled into supporting this 30-page gun control scheme, despite overwhelming law enforcement opposition. This initiative is an affront to the constitutional rights enshrined in the Second Amendment and the Washington state constitution, especially for young adults.

“We’re determined to fight this egregious measure because constitutionally-protected rights should never be subject to a popularity vote,” he stated. “The wealthy elitists behind I-1639 want to turn a right into a regulated privilege. This measure was only designed to have a chilling effect on the exercise of a constitutional right by honest citizens while having no impact at all on criminals, and we cannot let it go unchallenged.”

CSG: WA Constitution – Executive, Online Class Dec. 28, 2017

The Center for Self Governance is hosting an online class on the Executive portion of the Washington State Constitution on December 28th, 2017. Tuition is $25.

Click here to register.

State Constitution 300: Executive

NOTE:  This class is a LEVEL 300 WASHINGTON STATE CONSTITUTION CLASS.

You do not have to be a CSG student to attend.  You do not have to take the Constitution classes in sequence.

This is a 4 hour online lecture-style class.  Supplies to bring include: paper, pen, a copy of your state constitution and your enthusiasm! This is an interactive class and we look forward to hearing from you.

WA Gun Bills Go into Effect

From the NRA-ILA

Source – NRA-ILA – click for article

Related – Home Alone in Washington State